New Featured Content - A Walk in the Woods!

We are so excited to be able to share “A Walk in the Woods” with your library patrons and community via hoopla Digital! This title just released this week, and is available today on hoopla! Please check out a synopsis of the film below and take advantage of this great opportunity to promote!

A Walk in the Woods

Instead of a quiet retirement, author Bill Bryson opts for the greatest challenge of his life. He concocts an outrageous scheme to hike the entire Appalachian Trail…in his 60’s! His wife relents to the ludicrous plan, as long as he doesn’t travel alone. The search for a hiking companion lands upon a scruffy old friend of questionable repute. Together the unlikely duo sets out upon a journey of adventure that ultimately leads to self-discovery.

hoopla Content Partners

As hoopla continues to grow, so too does our content offering. We wanted to provide our library partners with a list of vendors currently offering titles on hoopla. Please keep in mind that not all vendors' titles are available in all regions, and that this list is subject to change at any time.

Video Content

• 9 Story
• Acort-Maxim
• Alchemy
• All Channel Films
• AmPop Scott
• Anderson Digital
• Astrolab Motion
• Asylum
• Bell Marker LLC
• Big Kids Productions
• Breaking Glass
• BroadGreen Pictures
• Callister Tech.& Ent. LLC
• Canal 13
• Caracol TV International
• CBC
• Cerebellum
• Cinedigm
• Cineflix
• Cinema Guild
• Cinema Libre
• CJ E&M America
• Content Media Corporation
• Cookie Jar
• Corus Entertainment
• DBM Films
• Diaspora Capital
• Digital Media Rights
• Disney
• Disney Edu
• Dreamscape Media
• Echelon Studios
• Education 2000
• Engine 15 Media Group
• eOne
• Film Buff
• Film Chest
• Film Ideas
• Film Movement
• Filmworks
• First Run Features
• Funimation Productions
• Gaiam
• Global Genesis Group
• Global Telemedia
• Globe Edutainment
• GoDigital
• GPC
• Gravitas Ventures
• Green Apple
• Green Planet Films
• Hannover House-
• HG Distribution
• Icarus Films
• iMusti
• Inception Media
• Indie Rights
• Indigenius
• Intelecom
• ITV Global Entertainment
• Janson Media
• Juice Distribution Inc
• Kaczmarek Digital Media Group
• KimStim
• Kino Lorber
• Kinonation
• Koan Inc
• Language Tree
• Leomark Studios
• Magnolia
• Marvista Digital
• Mediacan International
• Melbar Entertainment Group
• Menemsha Films
• MGM
• Mill Creek Entertainment
• Monarch
• Mongrel Media
• Monterey Media
• Monument Releasing
• Moonscoop Enterainment
• Mousetrap Films
• Move with Me Yoga Adventures
• MPI
• Multicom Ent
• Music Box Films
• MVD Entertainment
• National Geographic
• NBC Universal 
• NCircle Entertainment
• Nelvana Enterprises/Corus Entertainment
• Octapixx Worldwide
• Oscilloscope
• Osiris Entertainment
• Paraclete Press
• Passion River Films
• PBS Educational Media
• Phase 4 Films
• Picture Box Distribution
• Premiere Digital Services
• Princ Films
• Private Tutor
• Questar Entertainment
• R Squared Films
• RLJ Entertainment
• Screen Media
• Shami Media Group-
• Shout Factory
• Sisu Home Entertainment
• Small Fry Beginnings
• Snag Films
• Snapatoonies
• Sonar Entertainment
• Stadium Media
• Starz
• Strand Releasing
• Syndicado
• Technology Skills
• Teletime Productions
• Television Syndication Company
• The Film Detective
• The Great Courses
• The Kiddly Company
• The Shooting Star Film Co
• TMW Media
• Total Content Digital
• Travel Video
• Travel with Kids
• Tricon Films
• Uncork'd Entertainment
• Universal
• VideoFashion
• Virgil Films
• Vision Films
• VITA Digital Productions
• WellGo USA
• Weston Woods
• White Fox S.A.
• Wonderscape
• Youth Sports Club
• Zeitgeist

Audiobooks Content Partners

• Andrews UK
• Arbordale Publishing
• Author's Republic
• Berrett-Koehler
• Better Listen
• BetterListen LLC
• Blackstone
• Books In Motion
• Brook Forest
• Coral Communications
• Dreamscape Media
• Earworms
• eChristian
• Full Cast Audio
• Galaxy Press
• Gildan Media
• Hachette Audio
• HighBridge Audio
• Ideal Audiobooks
• L.A. Theatre Works
• Listen & Live Audio
• ListenUp Production
• Lukeman Literary
• Macmillan
• MMB Media
• Naxos
• Oasis Audio
• Orca
• Post Hypnotic Press
• Saddleback Educational
• Scholastic
• Simon & Schuster
• Simply Magazine
• Tantor Media
• Tyndale House Publishers
• Wellbeing World
• Weston Woods Studios

Music Content Partners

• Alligator Records
• Altavoz
• eOne
• iMusti
• INgrooves
• Rooftop Media
• Smith Music Group
• Twin Sisters
• Universal Music
• Warner Music

eBooks Content Partners

• Andrews UK
• Arbordale Publishing
• Arcadia Publishing
• Atlantic Publishing Group
• Baker Publishing Group
• Bancroft Press
• Berrett-Koehler Publishers
• Black Classic Press
• Charlesbridge Publishing
• Cherry Lake
• Chicago Review Press
• Coach House Books
• Cool Gus Publishing
• Disney Publishing
• Dreamspinner Press
• Dundurn Press
• eBook Partnership
• eChristian
• ECW Press
• Flowerpot Press
• Galaxy Press Publishing
• Hal Leonard Corp
• Hannover House
• Hay House
• Head of Zeus
• Henery Press
• House of Anansi
• iMusti
• Independent Publishers Group
• Ingram’s CoreSource Plus
• Inscribe
• Jolly Fish Press
• Kids Can Press
• Lerner Publishing Group
• Listen & Live Audio
• Longhill Partners
• Lukeman Literary
• Melodrama Publishing
• Morgan James Publishing
• Open Road
• Orca
• Paraclete Press
• Parragon
• Peachtree Publishers
• People Tested Media
• Permanent Press
• Pie Press Publishing
• PM Press
• Riptide Publishing
• Rodale Inc.
• Rosetta Books
• Rourke Educational Media
• Saddleback Educational Inc.
• Severn House
• Shadow Mountain-
• SilverWood
• Simply Magazine
• Sleeping Bear Press
• Sounds True
• Sourcebooks Inc
• Start Publishing
• Trajectory, Inc.
• Triumph Books
• Twin Sisters
• Tyndale House Publishers
• Vearsa
• Wild Rose Press
• Worthy Publishing
• Xist Publishing

Comic Content Partners

• BOOM! Studios
• Dark Horse
• DC Comics
• Dynamite Entertainment
• eigoManga
• IDW Publishing
• Image Comics
• Kingstone
• Trajectory Inc
• Valiant Entertainment
• Vertigo
• Wunderman Comics
• Zenescope Entertainment

New Library Administrative Site Released!

We at Midwest Tape and hoopla Digital take great pride in our commitment to libraries and the communities they serve. For the past several months, we have been collecting feedback from our customers on how we can improve the Library Administrative website (library.hoopladigital.com) to provide you greater value. We are excited to announce that a major roll out is underway!
 
Our Library Website updates were designed to provide you greater visibility to how your patrons are interacting with your hoopla Digital service, better tools for budgeting, and greater visibility to our inventory on a monthly basis. We wanted to ensure the features available to you were as clear, concise and seamless as possible in order to provide you the best possible tools for statistic and budget analysis as well as for future planning.
 
Take a look at the changes to our Library Administrative site coming to you this week:

• Content Discovery: 

An enhancement to our previous “Search” feature, the Content Discovery tool gives you the ability to discover the depth and breadth of titles that are available on hoopla.  You can create your own viewable lists of content with discovery filters such as format, genre, release year, price, rating, and/or publisher. 
 
Along with Content Discovery, you will also notice a new feature that will allow you to view any title your library has manually blocked, something that your library did not previously have visibility on.  You can also easily remove the block within the same screen. 

• Reports:

Our new reporting Dashboard will provide you greater visibility as to how your community is interacting with the service on a monthly basis. Here, you will find many of the reports that you were already using, now in bar graph and pie chart form for a new perspective that allow you to easily view:

• Daily Registrations
• Active Patrons
• Patron Retention
• Circulations by Format
• Daily Circulations
• Monthly budget Use

In our reports section, you will also find we have added a new Budget Summary report that will provide you full vision on your spending, to allow better forecasting and future planning.

• Settings:

At the Settings level, you will now have the ability to quickly identify how many, and what titles your library has blocked by rating and/or obvious profanities. This will be important for you to monitor, if your library has blocked content,  as the hoopla Digital collection grows throughout 2016. 
 
In the Account section of the hoopla Digital library website, you will find we have expanded on the budget entry screen which will now allow you the ability to plan out your budget for up to six months into the future.
 
I hope you are as excited about these changes as we are! As you well know, we at Midwest Tape strive to provide our libraries the highest quality services in the industry. We are consistently listening and continue to enhance our services based upon the needs you share. As always, we appreciate your trust in and business with Midwest Tape as well as for being a committed hoopla Digital partner!

Calling all Children's Librarians!

Calling all Children's Librarians! I'd like your help with something. Working with libraries, I have had several children's librarians share that they often feel "in the dark," if you will, when it comes to the digital services their library provides. Most consistently, I hear this is related to a lack of content for your audiences or little to no support with marketing materials or for your children's programming, summer reading programs, etc....

In 2016, we really want to focus on your needs. Could you help me learn what would assist you most? We have been working hard to build and highlight our children's content on hoopla and now, I ask you, how best can we support you in your marketing efforts? Are there things other vendors have provided in the past that have worked well? Anything you have done internally that you would like support with in the future? Anything you have seen us (or other providers) provide for adult collections or promotions that you would like replicated for their areas? I am all ears!!

Should you have ideas to share, please leave them in the comments below, or e-mail me, Courtney Wolfe: cwolfe@midwesttapes.com. I look forward to hearing from you. Thank you!!

Chris Stapleton Giveaway

I wanted to make you all aware of this new giveaway on our hoopla Digital Facebook page today! In addition to sharing updates and information about the service on our Facebook page, we are always looking for ways to assist you in engaging your community.

Please be sure to share this giveaway on your library’s Facebook page! One lucky winner will be selected to win a guitar autographed by Chris Stapleton guitar!!

hoopla Digital is Now Chromecast Compatible on Both Android and iOS Devices!

Your patrons have been asking for this!

We know how important it is for hoopla Digital to be accessible to your patrons on the "Big Screen" at home. hoopla Digital has always been compatible with Apple TV, and many simply connect their mobile devices to their television sets via HDMI. While these options are still available, we also now offer an additional option: Chromecast Compatibility!

For those of you that are not familiar, Chromecast is a device that one may plug into the HDMI port on their home television. It is powered by a USB cable that comes with the product and allows one to use his or her smartphone or device as a remote control!

Check out the excerpt from today's press release below for more details!

Category-Creating Mobile and Online Service Brings Thousands of Movies and TV Shows to the Large Screen for Patrons of Participating Public Libraries

HOLLAND, Ohio (Nov. 24, 2015) – Enhancing the in-home entertainment experience for public library patrons across North America, hoopla digital (hoopladigital.com) today unveiled support for Google Chromecast in the latest app update for Android, and iOS users in the U.S. and Canada. hoopla digital’s support for Google Chromecast now connects the device with the service’s Android and iOS apps. With the service update, featuring mirroring for enhanced user experience and navigation, public library cardholders can simply tap Google’s Chromecast Cast button on a video title within the hoopla digital app to begin enjoying thousands of movies and TV shows on their television at home.

hoopla digital partners with public libraries across North America to provide patrons with mobile and online access to more than 400,000 movies, music albums, TV shows, audiobooks, eBooks and comics – all available for instant streaming or downloading to their smartphones, tablets and computers with simple access through a library card.

“We’re always striving to build the hoopla digital experience. Support for Google Chromecast became a high priority for us as we added more movies and TV shows and more of our patrons began to use hoopla as their primary source for streaming videos,” said Jeff Jankowski, owner and founder of hoopla digital. “As we work to advance the digital evolution of public libraries, we remain committed to listening to our partners and their patrons, while empowering them with 24/7 access to dynamic content when and how they want it.”

Enjoy!

Introducing Valiant Comics - Live on hoopla!

hoopla is thrilled to be bringing you Valiant Comics today!
 
The most iconic Valiant characters and titles are here: the sci-fi superhero epic X-O Manowar, the pulsating action series Bloodshot Reborn, the globe-trotting adventure Archer & Armstrong, and more.

Including:

• Archer & Armstrong
• Quantum and Woody!
• Unity
• Blood Shot Reborn
• X-O Manowar
• The Death-Defying Doctor Mirage
• Harbinger
• Shadowman

Plus, there’s even more to get excited about …
 
Valiant Comics combined with hoopla’s Action View – our immersive-reading technology – is an experience in itself, as you zoom in on the artistry behind every panel!
 
Don’t miss out on all the action!
 
Experience Valiant Comics now with hoopla Action View!

The Holidays are Everywhere on hoopla!

Holidays on hoopla, our Holidays 'Look Book' for 2015 is so much more than simply a celebration of what's available on hoopla for the Holiday Season, it’s a celebration of you as librarians and how you make your library 'magical' for patrons every single day!

You’ll see more titles for you to share with your patrons this season than ever before, from the traditional to the contemporary and from the family-focused to the faith-centered – all available in six different formats, and all available in one app.

Plus, we’ve once again included our own self-crafted Holiday gift salute especially for you!

Take advantage of the Holidays on hoopla Look Book and become a “Holiday Hero” this year.  As patrons come knocking on your door for movies, music and more, you should have plenty to fill all the new gadgets they’ll be getting from the store, as well as some tech insight from the 'Tech the Halls' section of the book.

The look book is available in digital form immediately, with links to each title displayed.

The Holidays on hoopla Look Book, in print form, has been sent to your library. If you don't have it already, you should have it any day now. Be sure to watch for it, and share your feedback!

Happy Holidays!

All Your Patrons' Favorite Disney eBooks Are Now on hoopla

Hundreds of titles with all the most-beloved Disney characters are here! All your Disney friends, all the characters you've come to know and love, are now here as eBooks on hoopla - ready for you to create your own enchanted library. New Disney classics, like Frozen, Toy Story, Star Wars and more, come to life like never before with hoopla!

Conjure Up Halloween with hoopla! So Much to See and Hear...it's SCARY!

Dress up your library this Halloween with "Halloween with hoopla" display materials! Get the kids and the adults in your community in the spirit for Halloween night with our promotional materials. Found in our physical mailings that are already in your library, our ISSUU account, or access digital assets available at our Dropbox, these materials are sure to scare up the Halloween spirit!

From the front desk to your shelf units, share the Halloween with hoopla message with your patrons. Use the materials anywhere: decorate computer areas, shelves, or anywhere you want to bring hoopla and the Halloween spirit in your library.

Colorful posters (like the one pictured here) can be used to decorate your library in festive Halloween flair. Place them on the front door to remind patrons what you have inside, or put them on shelf end-caps as a reminder that even if it appears the shelves are empty, they'll always find Halloween on hoopla.

"Seasonal shelves are never empty with hoopla." With immediate, simultaneous, 24/7 access to all Halloween treats they're passionate about, your patrons will never go away empty-handed - on Halloween or during any holiday season! 

Once the hoodoo of Halloween is done, the rest of the 2015 Holiday Season will closely follow. Be sure to watch for "Holidays with hoopla" coming soon to your library!